Ethics & Law · patient case question
What is the most appropriate action?
Patient case: Pregnant adolescent attending with her parents
Patient: Female, 14 years old
Chief complaint: Attends for a dental cleaning.
Background: She is pregnant. She is accompanied by her parents, who do not know.
Current findings: She discloses the pregnancy privately and asks that her parents not be told.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Complete the cleaning and encourage her to tell her parents herself
- A. Best general answer. Provide the indicated care, preserve the confidence, and counsel her toward disclosure with support. Adolescent confidentiality around reproductive health is protected in most jurisdictions, and pregnancy itself may confer emancipated or specially protected status. Coercive disclosure destroys trust and may deter her from seeking prenatal care.
- B. Delegating the disclosure to staff is the same breach, with the added failure of not owning the decision.
- C. Withholding a routine, safe and beneficial cleaning as leverage is coercive and unethical.
- D. Unilateral disclosure risks breaching confidentiality and may be unlawful depending on the jurisdiction.
Note: ⚠️ Genuinely jurisdiction-dependent. State law governs adolescent confidentiality, emancipation and the treatment of reproductive health information. The examinable principle is: maintain confidentiality and encourage voluntary disclosure.